Movie of the Month - Annihilation (June 2018)

Movie of the Month - Annihilation

June 2018



Went for a very recent release for this month's podcast: 2018's Annihilation, another high-concept sci-fi film from Alex Garland. Some pretty crazy stuff in this one.




The podcast should be up in a couple of days (EDIT: here it is!). As usual, I'm joined by @Slappydavis, and I'm excited to announce that @bluedeed's back for this one, too!

What'd you guys think of this one?

I liked it.

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Hated it.

/internet

Travelling still. Was at a red light and this got my attention. I felt guilty for the short reply, but I also felt the lack of elaboration was a statement of my disappointment, in and of itself.

I will say that that I watched it in theater and was thoroughly disappointed for how generic it played for me. Once it was available on AMZ as a rental I tried again. This time pausing as needed to make notes. I couldn't finish the movie. And that upsets me because this should have been top of my list as it aimed for all my marks.

In a parking lot now btw. I pulled over for you, Yoda. It was always ...for you. lol

To quote my short review back in February:

"To me, it felt like bits of 2001 without any real symbolism, Arrival without any real progression or purpose, Into the Wild without any real wonder or curiosity, Solaris without any real visual awe, and Sphere without any real psychological self-awareness were all pulled from as inspiration without ever being put to use."

I liked it quite a bit. I watched it a couple of times and I enjoyed it each time I watched. I found it thought provoking and worthy of a bit of deep diving in regards to the genetic prism idea, as well as the themes of self-destruction. Plenty of excellent visuals to be had, and the last sequence/space-out was a high point for me. The film is perhaps not quite as smart as it wants to be, but still a step above the usual action/sci-fi fare.

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^I will agree somewhat. Definitely a step above in effort, and I wish there were more movies like this more often! Unfortunately, for me it never hit what I believe it aimed for. I wish I had finished my notes the second go around but I just couldn't, in good conscience, pay for it a third time.

I'll get into this more when the podcast is up, but I think there's probably a crazy high correlation between people who liked 2001 and who liked this.

Just like the actual Into the Wild, then?

In fairness, this does raise a good point about whether or not this is good in its own right or just makes acceptably passable use of its influences (though I thought the obvious one was Stalker due to the whole premise of a "zone" where strange things happened).

Yep. They can't tell apart a great masterpiece from a mediocre popcorn flick.

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I was thinking more like they gravitate towards films with surreal imagery and overt symbolism.

I don't think the imagery in 2001 and Annihilation is similar let alone surreal. The movie is like a shallow jab at Stalker:

Wasn’t this suppose to be on Netflix?

From what I can tell, it got a theatrical release in the U.S. but went straight to Netflix in other countries.

I liked it, especially the ending. 7/10

Yes and no. I do gravitate to that in some movies depending on their intent and ambition, but this one I watched based what it presented. I was OK to accept it, if it was acceptable.

Do I really have to rent this again?

Top 3 film of the year so far for me

Annihilation was great as a sci-fi mind bender, less so for a horror. I really liked it, the people plants, that mutant bear and the ending were all very creative.

I'm a little confused by this, because "similar" and "surreal" are not points on the same spectrum.

I'm also not sure how someone could dispute the idea that the imagery in Annihilation is surreal, even if they didn't like it much.

I have th rewatched it since it’s opening day in theaters, but I remember really really liking it. There’s a lot to it to unpack, so I’ll hold off on my full thoughts until I get to see it again.